


Shades of Home

by Griddlebone



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Romantic Fluff, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 15:30:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3773458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/pseuds/Griddlebone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She found it, all unlooked for, amidst the unending green waves of the Dothraki Sea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shades of Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Geekhyena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geekhyena/gifts).



Dany's silver effortlessly kept pace with Khal Drogo's mount. In the blood-and-gold tones of the sunset, the endless expanse of the Dothraki Sea spread out around them on every side. They rode in silence for now, and Daenerys did not miss speech. She was calm, at peace.

They had left the khalasar behind for tonight, wending their way through the deep grass with only each other for company. It reminded Dany of her wedding night, only this time she felt no fear and no uncertainty. This time, she relished the time alone with her Khal.

In the golden light, he was beautiful. Following him now, she could scarcely believe that she had feared him when they first met. Back then he had seemed barbaric and dangerous. Now he called her the moon of his life, and when in return she called him her sun and stars, she meant it with all her heart. They still had so few words in common, but these she cherished.

At last Khal Drogo seemed satisfied with their destination and dismounted. Dany waited atop her silver, enjoying the strength of his fingers around her waist as he lifted her from the horse's back and set her on her own two feet. This man, with such strength, who had never been defeated in battle, was every bit as dangerous as she had first imagined. But not to her. Never to her.

She looked around her and listened, and began to see why Drogo had chosen this place. A thin trickle of water ran nearby, its soft tinkling playing counterpoint to the evening breeze as it rustled through the grass. A few bushes clumped near the stream, and this was where Drogo secured their horses to ensure that the beasts did not wander off. Dany knew then that he intended for them to stay here tonight, alone under the stars.

Viserys would be furious, but Drogo's whim suited Dany just fine.

She enjoyed her time with Drogo as much for the closeness they shared as for the silence that often reigned between them, so utterly unlike the time that she shared with her brother. No plots and schemes and impotent fury for Drogo, but quiet calm and confidence, harbingers of the storm of destruction that was his khalasar.

When Drogo found a likely place and pulled her down with him, Dany thought they would make love then and there under the open sky, still lit with the thousand gorgeous colors of the sunset, but for now Drogo was content to sit amidst the grass and hold her. Dany molded herself against him, fitting her body to his and resting her head against his chest. His heart beat a firm and steady rhythm against her cheek. She wondered what had happened today to inspire such tenderness, but enjoyed it anyway. She felt small and fragile against his strength and size, and yet entirely secure in his embrace. Just as he was her sun and stars, she was the moon of his life. He would protect her against any threat that arose, just as he had lifted her up and out of her brother's reach.

Dany leaned into his warmth and relished the weight of his arms around her. She was of the dragon, however little she knew of what that truly meant, and she felt a deep appreciation for the physical strength and beauty of her mate. It was as if her initial wariness had only made her all the more aware of how desirable Drogo truly was. Here was a match for a dragon.

Questions still plagued her mind, making it hard for her to truly relax, but she refused to give them voice. If Khal Drogo wanted to talk about the day's events, Daenerys knew from experience, he would talk. If he wanted silence, it was best to be silent. He would speak in time, or not, as suited him.

So Dany kept silent and let the calm of the evening wash over her as if the Dothraki Sea were a sea in truth. The grass moved softly all around them, their horses were quiet in the descending darkness; they had come so far from the khalasar that its presence was little more than a distant murmur of sound. It felt almost as if the two of them were the only people in the entire world. In that moment, as the last of the sunset began to fade into the grey of night, Dany would not have minded much.

As night swept over the Dothraki Sea, Daenerys turned in her husband's arms and rose up to kiss him deeply. Eyes closed, she felt him smile against her mouth, felt the rumble of a chuckle deep in his chest, as he responded enthusiastically. She always marveled just a bit at his response when she made the first move, her heart racing in anticipation. She had not expected it the first time she gathered up the courage to do so, but he truly seemed pleased when she demonstrated just how much she desired him. And she desired him very, very much.

Toward morning, as the sky was just beginning to grow pink with the dawn, Dany lay drowsing beside Drogo, pondering the dramatic change that had swept into her life since the day her brother sold her to Drogo.

It was there in the way she rode proudly astride her silver with the khalasar spread out all around her in every direction, as far as the eye could see; it was there in all the fine gifts she had received since she became Drogo's khaleesi, and all the power she was learning to wield. And it was there in the man himself, Khal Drogo, even now as he slept soundly beside her.

It was there, all unlooked for and unsought, amidst the unending green of the Dothraki Sea: home.

To Daenerys, "home" had always been the fleeting memory of happy times behind a red door somewhere far away. "Home" was a thing she had lost and had not thought to ever find again, least of all in the form of the man to whom her brother had sold her. "Home" had always been a place and a single moment in time, but now it was any place where Drogo led. Now it was any moment at her husband's side.

And though she knew from bitter experience that this home might yet be taken from her as all the others had, Dany refused to let that tarnish the joy she felt this morning. Soon, Khal Drogo would stir beside her, and later they would return to the khalasar and resume their trek across the Dothraki Sea. There would be moments of fear and pain, and tenderness and love. All of that and more awaited her, she knew, in the days to come.

But for now, Daenerys had home.


End file.
